Self-Summon [Demon Summoning/Evolution LitRPG]

Rastille rushed forward, swinging his sledgehammer down on the nearest Malignant with hefty strength. The creature exploded into Essence from the single hit, popped like a balloon. He then dashed from one to the next, surprisingly agile for a man his size. Each time, he beared his mighty tool down on them, looking like he was splatting their bodies into the dirt. Sort of like whatever the opposite of pulling weeds was, only for them to all dissolve away to nothing, leaving the head of the hammer resting softly on the soil.

Eventually, he got to some weird mole thing with shield-like armor covering its limbs. The hammer clanged when it struck the hard shell, reverberating around the playground. But the Summoner didn’t let that stop him. Frost began to exude from the head of the sledgehammer, quickly freezing the armor. He pulled back for a second and swung down again, shattering the mole’s limbs away and then giving it a swift death with a whack on the head.

Damn, he uses Frost Touch way better than me, Angelica couldn’t help but lament. But she’d barely been a Demon for a few weeks, and he’d been doing this for at least a decade or so by the sounds of it, so it wasn’t right to compare herself. Still, it was good in a way to see the heights she could reach. If improving her Might let her crush Malignants like they were ice sculptures, that was all the more motivation to build her strength.

Looking around, the other Summoners were also doing work, or at least Vystal was. She worked well with Xinder. The bird was corralling the enemies into a group, occasionally scratching some with its talons, inflicting them with what looked like some sort of Petrification status, literally turning the Malignants’ bodies to stone. His master was doing something similar, using a wand as a catalyst to fire blasts of energy at the others that were not yet afflicted, surely using her Demon’s power to solidify them as well.

Then when the bunch were all still and blocky, she pulled at a second one. This stick charged up what looked like balls of air that then fired at the Malignant statues, blasting them to rubble before they dissolved like usual. Was the wind power also Xinder’s, or maybe that wand had a Rune in it.

[Wand of Wind | Runes Slotted: Cyclone Sphere Lv.7, Seeking Projectile Lv.3]

Thanks, Scrying Eye! Gelic honestly didn’t know she could do that, so it was always good to experiment whenever possible. Though she now knew the answer, and was greatly envious of the Seeking Projectile Rune, the speculation would have been further confirmed, because the bird wasn’t using wind magic of any kind. Instead, it flew up into the air and shed several feathers which plummeted toward the ground, turning more stoney and sharp during their descent, basically becoming a rain of arrows that further decimated the stuck creatures.

Not working well with his unpresent partner was Sperado, barely looking like he was helping at all. From the case, he’d pulled out some sort of automatic crossbow that fired magazines of bolts almost like a gun. Which honestly made her wonder why he wasn’t actually using a gun. Scrying Eye was actually no help there, not even registering the item he was holding. Perhaps there wasn’t anything special or magical about it that was worthy enough to display.

“Does that have like any special enchantments or anything?” Gelic couldn’t contain her curiosity so she directly asked its user.

“Hrm, nope,” the man sounded completely disinterested by the question, and then sighed when it apparently fell on him to explain things. “Malignants don’t really have elemental weaknesses generally. Unlike Demons, even Holy magic doesn’t do more or less than anything else. They’re pretty much afflicted by everything, kind of like animals, so there’s no reason to use anything special, at least until you get to very strong, very evolved Malignants, but we won’t find any like those here.

“Ah, to answer your question, though, there is one special thing about these bolts. They decompose very quickly. Wouldn’t do to leave them lying around for kids or anyone else to find. And I don’t have to go around and pick them all up.”

That was definitely the real reason he used them. Overall, it was something she hadn’t really thought about. Since she’d never heard about Summoners her entire life, and they’d evidently been around for a while, it meant they were great at being discreet. Leaving the dregs of spent munitions would certainly cause people to ask questions and create a trail to follow.

Well, if he’s even doing something, then I guess I should get in on it too. Airstrike! Gelic found her body spring forward all on its own after she gave the command. She jumped into the air in front of the nearest Malignant, repositioned herself facing downward, and plunged down at them with her dagger drawn, skewering through them until the tip of the blade touched the ground.

The Combo Skill’s activation sort of like giving herself an Order. Speaking of, she went ahead and used her open slot to do just that, having herself attack and destroy any Malignants in the nearby vicinity using Airstrike, with a particular focus on wanting to stick close to Rastille and provide support. While he probably didn’t need to worry about it since he was killing most of the monsters in a single hit, he didn’t seem to pay much attention to his own vulnerabilities.

[Airstrike Lv.2]

[Jump Good Lv.2]

[Flutter Lv.2]

[Might, Competence, Creativity increased]

[Destruction, Balletic Attunements increased]

Really the Order only lasted for a few moments, at least until it didn’t know what to do anymore. The swaths of supernatural creatures vanished before her eyes. As far as she could tell, the threat had been cleared, but her Contract didn’t mark itself as complete, and her Malignant Sense was still buzzing that there was something nearby. Apparently her concern was easily read by her master. “There must be hidden Malignants still in the area,” he called out to the others. “Spread out and search carefully.”

Gelic found herself pulled toward a particular piece of playground equipment. It was like a big half-dome igloo thing that kids could play in like it was a secret clubhouse. There were a few holes that allowed entry, but they were all too small for big ole adults to clamber their way inside, though it’d be funny to see Rastille try. Even Xinder would have some trouble trying to wriggle his way into the big bowl, so it was up to the Imp and her teeny self to scout inside. Even she would have to suck it in a bit since her rotundness exceeded the average width of a child that age.

“Erm, hello, Malignants?” She had peered inside at first, but when there was no sign of anything, that was when she hesitantly squeezed her way in. Weird, still nothing. Then suddenly, the whole dome went dark. Fellow round objects writhed their way in front of the exits, blocking all light with their clear bodies before their color shimmered into existence.

Gelic quickly activated her Scrying Eye in a panic, uncovering the true nature of her trappers: rocky egg-shaped things. They were all Lv.1-3s, and just by their looks, didn’t appear to be too much of a threat. That didn’t stop Angelica from getting absolutely annoyed that they’d managed to capture her so easily, from such a simple trick too. In the future, maybe she’d have to suck up the MP drain and just leave Scrying Eye on perpetually during future hunts. It honestly wasn’t too much of a cost, she’d just been trying to preserve every drop, even with the mild recovery on the ride over.

At the very least, they didn’t seem to be really interested in attacking her as much as keeping her prisoner. Maybe they planned to hold her hostage until they could drain every ounce of MP possible. Gelic hesitantly stepped forward and poked one with the tip of her dagger. Just one prick, or lack thereof, told her there was absolutely no way she’d be able to pierce their stone-like hide. She’d be more liable to break her weapon than achieve anything of note.

Perhaps she could freeze them like Rastille had done. But how could she shatter them afterward? There was no way she had enough Might to punch them to bits with her tiny hands, and she didn’t have any other sort of blunt object that would be of use. With enough hits, there was a good chance she’d unlock the Bash skill, or some other sort of unarmed strike, but that still probably wouldn’t be enough.

Maybe she should just call for help. Angelica tapped into the telepathic communication with her master that had thus far gone unused. “Hey, uhh, master. Found these weird rock egg things in the dome. And they’ve, err, kind of trapped me in here. Might need some assistance.”

“That does sound troublesome,” Rastille acknowledged. “But since it doesn’t seem like you’re in immediate danger, you’ll need to wait a little bit. Vystal’s Bound found a group hiding by the treeline trying to escape. We’ll need to finish them off first and then come back for you soon. Just try to stay alive.”

“Right…” Gelic wasn’t particularly jazzed with that answer, but she understood. If the Malignants fled, they’d just need to be hunted down again. It just meant she would be stuck in baby Demon jail for a bit. Or would she? Suddenly, there was a bit of moonlight peering in from outside the dome, just a crack. One of the Malignants had moved toward her slightly. No wait, they all had.

That was a bit more worrying. She paid closer attention, and inch by inch, they steadily shifted in her direction. And with the way they were positioned… Damn, they’re trying to crush me! It wouldn’t be any time soon, but eventually, they would completely enclose her body and probably squeeze the life out of her. If she couldn’t manage to push them away, they’d dogpile onto her so there was nowhere to escape, buried alive by rocky eggs.

Hmm, oh wait, I can do that! A great idea suddenly popped into her mind. It was going to be my next purchase anyway!

[Would you like to consume 177 Essence to reach Imp Lv.7?]

Angelica hadn’t even realized that she’d passed the threshold for two levels. Since she’d ignored it the first time, the DGS must have decided she didn’t want to be notified about it again until she was ready to level. Sure, why not? Really, she only needed the one. With the GP she already had, and the free one from the error, it would bring her to the needed three. But having the extra Health and MP didn’t hurt.

[Demon Rank: Imp Lv.7]

Her enjoyment from the double level was slightly soured by the encroaching enemies. But if the skill she was about to get worked like she hoped, they wouldn’t be around to trap her for much longer.

[Spend 3 GP to unlock Toxic Imbuement?]

[Toxic Imbuement Lv.1]

[Malice notably increased]

[Pestilence Attunement increased]

Alright, it was time to see if the path of poison was really one worth following. Gelic waddled forward and placed a hand on the nearest Malignant. First, she tried to give it a little push to see if it would budge, but no luck, so she activated her new Skill for just a second and then backed away, inspecting what she’d accomplished.

[Malignant Lv.2 | Health 80% | Poisoned: Toxic - 2 Stacks (Only you can see this)]

[Malignant Lv.2 | Health 69% | Poisoned: Toxic - 2 Stacks]

[Malignant Lv.2 | Health 58% | Poisoned: Toxic - 2 Stacks]

[Malignant Lv.2 | Health 47% | Poisoned: Toxic - 2 Stacks]

It was interesting watching the Health percent drop in real-time, refreshing every couple of seconds. And the rate was fixed, so she could quickly calculate how long it had to live, not long at all.

[Malignant Lv.2 | Health 14% | Poisoned: Toxic - 1 Stack]

[Malignant Lv.2 | Health 9% | Poisoned: Toxic - 1 Stack]

Of course, right after she did the mental math, the number of Stacks changed. Its stoney immune system must have managed to fight off some of the poison. But there was no need to reapply Toxic it would seem, since it would be dead soon enough regardless.

[Malignant Lv.2 | Health 3% | Poisoned: Toxic - 1 Stack]

[Malignant Lv.2 defeated. Gained 16 Essence]

With a comrade down, the rest of the rock eggs scrambled and shifted their spacing, filling the gap so that the Imp still wouldn’t be able to escape as they continued to encroach on her territory. That wouldn’t do them any good now, since they were mere seconds away from death. Or they were after Gelic gave them a light slap each. She was careful not to do any more than that, because each second of Toxic Imbuement was actually a full percent of her MP at her current capacity.

The spend was worth it, however, since the foes she previously thought unbeatable now… cracked like eggs. Angelica gleefully counted down the moments to her freedom. It would have been really cool if all the Malignants died at the same time, but a few of the Lv.1s were kicked to the curb early, and there was one Lv.3 that outlived all the others, and actually managed to shed both Toxic stacks, so she had to reapply it with another caress of her palm. She almost felt bad as the thing quivered, trying to escape now that its family had all perished, but it never even made it out of the dome before it popped into Essence.

[2 Achievements unlocked. Would you like to read their messages and receive their rewards?]

Hmm, perhaps the DGS had gotten a bit more hesitant about blasting messages in her face with the filter requests she’d made. It was nice, but since her current fight was done, she saw no reason to delay. Though, maybe she should wait. Poison Chef had come from an Achievement, and it had thrown her whole situation into disarray. Perhaps it would be best to wait until she got home. But at the same time, what were the odds of such misfortune happening twice in a row? Lay ‘em on me!

Spoiler

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